Firstly, richness is to have great wealth and possession but the value in the things you have and possess is subjective. One persons trash and someone else’s treasure. So what makes a rich life?
Not everyone has the ‘luxury’ to own expensive things. Interior design magazines and Architectural digest, as much as I am a fan of, only put value on certain things. Paying big bucks for things will not make your environment feel rich nor does buying cheap. Modern living allows us to buy cheap goods with luxurious feel but has no real value to it. The way we consume right now is all about cheap and fast which also make living in our home feel unimpressive and frugal. Like Marie Kondo’s motto, if it doesn’t spark joy, throw that shit away (rephrasing).
We need to start thinking of everything we buy as collections and treasures. Don’t buy when your bored. “Retail therapy” is not environmentally friendly and you might not really have wanted it anyway. Buy things that will give it meaning. Better yet, if you can, make something yourself. When an item has a story and meaning behing it, you tend to keep it longer and you will feel joy when you use it or even nostalgia.
If you really want something nice that will last forever, save up for it and not settle for a dupe and if you can buy real vintage or second hand goods that’s a plus. I believe that pre-owed items possesses a kind of spirit that lives in it, like a dog that needs a home, pre-owned items feel like it belongs to you somehow. Also, imagine the conversations and stories you could tell from it that will in itself give more life to your home.
Support more local crafts or even buy from Etsy and help build small businesses will add more love to your items. Stuff becomes more than just stuff when it has some sentimental journey and a story behind it. Everything is defined by the thoughts you put into it. If you want things cheap and easy then your life will be simply cheap and easy but if you add some thought and value and love into everything then your life will be full of love and life and valuable memories.
When you have mundane things that occupies your space, your life will feel mundane. Ikea chairs and Ikea cup of coffee will not brighten your day. You will just be like any other middle class sitting in the same chair drinking from the same cup going about their busy capitalist day. But when you have things that give you joy, like this coffee cup you bought from this old lady in some random shop you happen to stumble upon, it now has life on it’s own, and you then are living around liveliness and richness! Try it sometime!
